Some time back I wrote that Streetdirectory is somewhat back, minus some useful features that us Singaporeans have come to take for granted. When it went offline, I am sure many of us must have felt really lost.

Until recently, I have been manually using Google Maps and cross referencing with SBS and SMRT manually to find out how to get to a location.

The website is called GoThere. It sports the same features that used to be available on Streetdirectory.com - the bus guides, the driving instructions etc. In fact, I find it easier to use than Streetdirectory.com. You can easily enter a local name for a place, like "Raffles Hotel", or "Bugis Junction" into the search box, and it'll show you exactly where it is. You don't need to know the road name or even the postal code.The "Get To Here" and "Get From Here To" box works the same. Just enter a name, part of a name, postal code, or just a local name, and it'll calculate the distance for all 3 modes of travel - driving, bus only, or bus+MRT. In fact it's so spot on, that the colleagues I have introduced this website to, have bookmarked it.

As you can see from the screenshot of the page, I only typed in "Bugis Junction" as a location. No address, nothing. What was returned was the full address of the place. If you look at the map carefully, bus stops are clearly indicated on the map.

Yes, you can click on the numbers to go directly to SBS IRIS and get more detailed bus information. Yes, you can even query when the next bus is coming too (although IRIS has been known to be inaccurate especially during peak hours).

In the bottom left corner you can also see a searchbox to look for nearby locations. Unlike in Streetdirectory.com, you are not limited to searching only for nearby ATMs or 7-11 stores. You can search for ANYTHING. Even "Boon Tong Kee" chicken rice if you want to.

Which brings me to another point. With Gothere.sg you don't need to search for a specific location. You can search for eating places, shopping, whatever. The site is kind of like "open source", where everyone contributes. If you liked a shop, a stall or whatever, and it's not listed, you can add it in. Other people can come and add comments and rate your selection.

An example is shown in the screenshot above. I looked for a Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice store near Toa Payoh, and it offered the Balestier branch as the result. Here you can see that people have left comments for that particular branch of Boon Tong Kee.

The best thing about gothere.sg is - it's FREE! No need to sign up for membership even. You can contribute pretty much anonymously like Wikipedia. No ads, no clutter.

The conclusion is, for me anyway - I don't need Streetdirectory.com anymore. Gothere.sg does everything I need and much faster too.